Endoscopic Imaging System for Nasal Valve Collapse Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current medical diagnostic methods for ENT conditions, such as nasal valve collapse, are inefficient and uncomfortable for patients, often requiring costly and time-consuming CT or MRI scans that expose patients and staff to health hazards, and provide confusing results due to indirect imaging.
Innovation Solution
A system utilizing an endoscope with a control unit and imaging device for direct digital imaging and analysis, enabling quick and minimally invasive ENT imaging and analysis, including identification of nasal valve collapse, turbinate inflation, and other anatomical obstructions through object recognition and user input, with features like airflow measurement and volume calculation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If CT or MRI scans are used for ENT diagnosis, then imaging precision is improved, but diagnostic time increases and patient comfort deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the imaging function from complex CT/MRI systems and implements it directly at the endoscope tip using a miniaturized imaging device. This allows direct digital imaging of nasal passages and sinuses during endoscopy, eliminating the need for separate CT/MRI scanning steps while maintaining diagnostic precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines multiple diagnostic functions into a single endoscopic system. The endoscope integrates direct digital imaging capabilities, airflow sensors, and volume measurement functions, allowing simultaneous acquisition of anatomical images and functional data during one procedure, thereby reducing total diagnostic time.
2Measurement precision
If CT or MRI scans are used for ENT diagnosis, then imaging precision is improved, but patient comfort deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the need for patients to enter confined MRI/CT machines by extracting the high-resolution imaging capability and placing it directly on the endoscope. This allows diagnosis to be performed in a open, comfortable setting while maintaining imaging precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical confinement of MRI/CT scanners with a minimally invasive endoscopic approach. The imaging device is delivered through a flexible endoscope rather than requiring the patient to be positioned inside a large scanning machine, significantly improving comfort.
3Measurement precision
If CT or MRI scans are used for ENT diagnosis, then imaging precision is improved, but health risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a disposable or single-use endoscope with integrated imaging that does not require repeated exposure to ionizing radiation. Each endoscope can be used once and then discarded, eliminating cumulative radiation exposure risks associated with multiple CT/MRI scans while maintaining diagnostic precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces radiation-based imaging (CT/MRI) with optical-based direct digital imaging at the endoscope tip. This substitution eliminates ionizing radiation exposure to both patients and staff while providing sufficient imaging precision for ENT diagnosis.
4Measurement precision
If CT or MRI scans are used for ENT diagnosis, then anatomical detail is improved, but result interpretability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the complex CT/MRI imaging process into direct, sequential endoscopic views of specific anatomical regions. The endoscope systematically examines each sinus passage and nasal structure in turn, capturing images that are immediately recognizable and interpretable without requiring complex radiological processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates direct optical copies (images) of the nasal and sinus anatomy through the endoscope's imaging device. These images are true-to-life visual representations that can be directly interpreted by clinicians without requiring translation from indirect signal-based images, improving result interpretability while maintaining anatomical detail.
Data Source
AI summary
An ear nose and throat (ENT) imaging and analysis system includes an endoscope usable to capture images of the nasal canal and other aspects of patient anatomy. Endoscopic images may be presented to a user via a touchscreen display, and the software may provide different imaging modes that aid in identifying particular anatomical structures or areas within the nasal canal. In one mode, the system uses an object recognition process to identify the nasal valve opening within the images at a relaxed state, and during forceful inhalation, and then calculates the difference between the two states, which may be suggestive of nasal valve collapse. In other modes, the system is configured to identify abnormalities of the inferior turbinate, septum, or other anatomy, as well as empty spaces within the nasal canal, as well as areas and volumes of empty space and user defined boundaries.